


Read It Over

by jaythewriter



Category: Marble Hornets
Genre: FORESHADOWING FOR STUFF WE ALREADY KNEW, Gen, angry grumpy tim is best tim, sunshine brian is best and saddest brian, word doc titled 'the homoerotic subtext in alex kralie's marble hornets'
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-08-13
Updated: 2014-08-13
Packaged: 2018-02-13 00:51:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,534
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2130873
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jaythewriter/pseuds/jaythewriter
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Brian's been wanting to do a certain scene for ages now and Tim isn't being very cooperative, as per usual. He thinks he can really nail this one, though, regardless of how much Alex's script writing skills leave to be desired.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Read It Over

Golden orange light swims across the sweeping tides of a twinkling lake. Birds sing their affections of this beautiful pure place, closed off from the rest of Alabama by a thick ring of trees that only the most serious of travelers would brave.

A pair of young men-- best friends, soulmates, stand at the lake’s shore, the hems of their jeans drawn up around their ankles. Cold water laps at their bare feet; with dusk upon them, what would have been relief hours ago is now an uncomfortable chill. Neither of them go searching for their shoes, though. They stick close to each other, shoulder to shoulder, refusing to leave the other alone in this special place.

The one clad in his college sweatshirt, fitting snug on his strong arms, speaks, his words soft, as though afraid to break the delicate air that floats between him and his dark haired, dark eyed friend.

“I can’t believe we’re here, Tim. Right where we spent prom night, after Sarah and I…”

Tim dares to lift his eyes from the sunset before them, looking at his friend and waiting patiently for him to finish, though he never does. He shakes his head, raising a hand to his eyes and heaving out a sigh from deep inside. 

“Y’know, I never thought I’d come back to this place,” he continues, combing his fingers across his head. His sandy blonde hair briefly stands up at the front, until the sweet smelling breeze trails along and pushes it back into place, ever perfect. “I never thought I’d see this place again, or Sarah, or… or you. I thought I’d missed it, all of it, but it turns out I was only missing you.”

There, he said it. He was holding onto it for days, ever since he arrived here and saw Tim again, saw how much he had grown, a cigarette clutched between yellowing fingers and doubting eyes peering over a pair of new glasses. 

The silence from before drapes over the two of them once again, though this time it lays heavier, thick with anticipation. Tim takes a long drag on his cigarette, more of a smoking stub than anything else now, and sighs out the result from his nostrils. Smog clouds hang over him, gradually ripped apart by the wind as it picks up in power.

Finally, he opens his mouth, and--

“Brian, that’s really fucking gay.”

And just like that, the peace is broken. 

“For fuck’s sake, Tim-- Cut!” 

Alex stomps out from behind the camera, Jay trailing close behind and biting back a mirthful smile. Brian is doing the same, having the decency to turn away from the approaching director and covering his mouth. 

“This is the third take we’ve had to do and you messed up the first two, too!” Alex huffs, slapping Tim across the shoulder with the rolled up script. “You’re supposed to tell Brian you had no idea he missed you. You’re both best friends, this should be fucking easy for you.”

“Yeah, it would be,” Tim says, casual, flicking his stubby cigarette over his shoulder and into the water. “But I can’t help feeling like this isn’t really about Sarah and Brian’s love story. Not that I have a problem acting it with Brian, but--”

“No! Haven’t you ever heard of subtext?!”

“I don’t do subtext,” Tim interrupts, brushing past Alex and heading for the boulders that they’ve all staked out as makeshift seats. “It’s either all or nothing, man. If I’m supposed to be in love with him, I better kiss him, not just make scared gooey eyes at him.”

Brian follows, flashing apologetic eyes toward Alex. The ever huffy-puffy director turns to Jay, who continues to swallow his laughter in the face of Alex’s complaints about diva actors sassing him all the time. 

Tim’s breaking into the packet of salt and vinegar chips the four of them agreed to share when Brian comes up to join him. He takes his first handful and thoughtfully munches through them while staring Jay and Alex down.

“Do ya think this movie is actually about Alex and Jay or something?” Tim asks as Brian’s shoulder bumps up against his. “Like, we’re supposed to be them and this is actually Alex dealing with his feelings for Jay?”

“That is entirely possible, but I wouldn’t say that to him,” Brian humors him. He watches Jay closely, seeing the faint color that dusts over his gaunt face and his absurdly wide smile. If anyone were to ask him, he’d say Jay is the one with some feelings to work out, but he isn’t going to encourage this line of thought.

“Whatever, then, god knows we’re done out here, the sun’s set,” Tim gestures to the very last line of bloody orange light hanging over the tree dotted horizon. “You know how Alex is about atmosphere. We’re not staying.”

Brian nods, pulling his knees up to rest under his chin. A pile of scripts lay on the ground where his feet were, calling to him like sirens. As much as Tim might mock this scene and what it stands for, Brian finds he can’t ignore it, and he reaches for the scripts, grabbing two for the both of them.

“That doesn’t mean we shouldn’t try to practice the scene so we can get it perfect next time.”

Tim narrows his eyes at the script being held out to him and leans away from it, as though it had fleas.

“Come on, Tim, please?” Brian begs, wagging the paper at him and jabbing it at his arm. “There’s this one line that I’m really excited to deliver ‘cos I know exactly how I want to do it, I want to run it by you, and see if you like it since if you like something, it /must/ be good--”

“Fine, fine,” Tim gives in, snatching the paper from him and leaving the chips to the side. “Hell, if you’re this excited about it, I’ll do it, just… calm down.”

Brian beams at his best friend and scoots closer, flipping to the page they were acting out moments before.

“Let’s start where we left off!”

Tim hums affirmatively, following Brian’s lead and trailing a finger down the paper, coming to a stop above the line he purposefully flubbed in favor of fucking around with Alex. He scans over it again, quietly rolls his eyes, and pulls in a prepping breath before beginning.

“I had no idea, Brian. Why didn’t you tell me?”

Character is broken for a moment so that Brian can swat out at Tim for the lack of enthusiasm-- something that happens more often than not on the set of Marble Hornets. The darker haired man bows his head, swallowing back the mean grin that teases at his lips.

“I didn’t want to make you think I haven’t been happy since I got here,” Brian replies once they’ve settled. Throat bobbing as though he’s actually swallowing down the words that long to get out, he turns his eyes to Tim’s face and doesn’t look away until their gazes connect. “The truth is, well, that /is/ the truth. I’m not happy unless I’m with you.”

A strange pause wedges between the two of them, one that extends beyond the characters that they’re playing. Tim frowns behind his script, but for Brian’s sake, he treks on.

“What do you mean?”

“It just…”

Brian puts the script aside, closing his eyes. He’s gone over this part of the script around a hundred times. It comes to him naturally, like blinking or putting one foot in front of the other. He doesn’t need the script for this anymore. 

“I’ve been faking a smile this whole time,” he confesses, and on cue, the tears prickle behind his eyelids, hot and stinging. “It’s been great, being back here. Logically, I know it’s been great. But I might as well be wearing a hood, hiding how I really feel about all this old stuff, all these memories coming back to me…”

His voice catches on ‘memories’; perfect. He swipes his wrist across his eyes.

Alex Kralie would be proud-- if he wasn’t still bitching about his actors.

Tim Wright, on the other hand, is putting down his script and his brow is furrowing, eyes wide and sincere as he reaches for Brian’s wrist. His fingers brush over his pulse and hover there as he speaks.

“Are you okay--”

And as quick as the sun had set on them, Brian is Brian Thomas again. His face splits into a wide grin, and he gives Tim a light punch on the shoulder. 

“Acting, buddy! Ever heard of it?”

They’re quiet again, though this time it’s due to mental lag-- Tim blinks rapidly, his concerned frown stretching into something short of irritable, but he shakes his head, brushing the matter aside for now.

“You’re really good at this. Alex is lucky to have you. You know what they say about weak plotlines and strong characters to carry them.”

Brian’s peculiar smile hangs on tight, and he shakes his head at Tim, as though he just said the most ridiculous thing.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”


End file.
